This sci-fi spoof focuses on a pair of British nerds who begin an American adventure at Comic-Con—the annual geek gathering in San Diego—before renting an RV to explore the U.S., stopping at all the Southwest's most infamous UFO sites. Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) is a wannabe sci-fi writer, while Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) is an aspiring illustrator. Best friends since childhood, they even speak Klingon. Somewhere between Nevada's Area 51 and Roswell, NM, the pair witness a fiery car crash—out of which emerges Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), a profanity-spewing, pot-smoking alien who's been confined in a top-secret military base for 60 years (that he looks like E.T. is no surprise, since he was a consultant to Steven Spielberg). After some initial trepidation, Clive and Graeme agree to transport Paul to an unspecified pick-up location so that he can finally go home. One night in an RV park, Clive becomes enamored with a shy, sheltered Christian fundamentalist (Kristin Wiig), whose outlook changes radically after a pivotal encounter with Paul, and soon the quartet are being pursued by her fanatical, Bible-toting father (John Carroll Lynch), along with a couple of crazed hillbillies (David Koechner, Jesse Plemons), and a disgruntled trio of federal agents (Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio). Written by Pegg and Frost and directed by Greg Mottola, Paul is an entertaining road trip that serves up a cornucopia of verbal and visual pop culture references, and features cameos by Blythe Danner, Jane Lynch, and Sigourney Weaver. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by director Greg Mottola, costars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Bill Hader, and producer Nira Park), “The Evolution of Paul” behind-the-scenes featurette (15 min.), bloopers (11 min.), “Who the Hell is Adam Shadowchild?” on Jeffrey Tambor's character (2 min.), and “Simon's Silly Faces” clips (2 min.), as well as photo, storyboard, and poster galleries, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are behind-the-scenes featurettes (62 min.), a “Between the Lightning Strikes” making-of featurette (40 min.), bonus DVD and digital copies of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an entertaining film.] (S. Granger)
Paul
Universal, 104 min., R, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray: $39.98, Aug. 9 Volume 26, Issue 3
Paul
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